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Date of Graduation
5-2026
Description
Degradation of water quality is primarily driven by human activities, such as urbanization. Urban Stream Syndrome (USS) can be characterized by the negative physical, chemical, and biological changes to water quality as a result of urbanization. One key effect of USS is the input of excess nutrients, which can drive unwanted macrophyte and algal growth. New construction is prevalent in urbanizing areas, resulting in the influx of nutrients, sediments, and other materials into stream ecosystems. However, few studies have examined the impacts of active construction on water quality. As such, we do not understand how construction affects nutrient transport downstream. Here, we studied the impacts of construction on urban water quality in Tanglewood Branch in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which originates from a spring below an ongoing construction project. We measured soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and nitrate (NO3-) concentrations in water samples collected biweekly, and discharge in order to calculate loads at five sites downstream of the construction. We calculated instantaneous nutrient load and examined spatiotemporal variation. Preliminary findings show that SRP and NO3- loads decrease moving downstream of the construction, suggesting that in-stream biota are removing SRP and NO3- from the water column during transport. This study will increase our understanding of construction projects on water quality and assist in determining if municipalities may need to consider stricter construction regulations to restrict unwanted nutrients from entering surface waters.
Publication Date
2025
Document Type
Book
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Agriculture
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences
Advisor/Mentor
Speir, Shannon
Disciplines
Life Sciences
Keywords
Natural Science
Citation
Wilson, B., Speir, S., Strauss, A. G., & Anscombe, C. G. (2025). Breaking ground: The impact of construction on nutrient loads in an urban stream. 2025 Research Poster Competition. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/hnrcsturpc25/18
